On Saturday I travelled to Malmö, Sweden with a group of friends from Introduction week. It was a really quick train ride and the price was right, so we made it a day trip and tried to see all of the famous tourist attractions in the area. This is the first real “excursion” I’ve been on since I got to Denmark, so I was very excited. We saw the “Turning Torso” which is a residential building right outside the city center. We also saw a castle, a church, and then went downtown to go shopping. By the end of the day I was completely exhausted, but the trip was well worth it. It was a little difficult trying to coordinate with a group of about fifteen people, so we eventually broke off and five of us went on our own for dinner, then we headed back to Denmark.
I think that the whole phase of “culture shock” is beginning to set in. A friend of mine commented about how open I have been to their culture, and how eager I am to learn and adapt to their society. Yet, the past few days I have been feeling a little bit bothered. It is mostly just small things that people do that seem so weird. For example, I invited my friend from Norway over for dinner a few nights ago. She just recently moved into my dorm building in a different wing, so she was comparing my kitchen to hers. She started opening up peoples cabinets (we each get one cabinet and a shelf in the refrigerator and freezer). This shocked me since I am not the type of person to look at other peoples belongings. I started to think about the differences between us, and how it must be normal for her to look through other peoples stuff. Then the next day we were at the library and she informed me about how Norwegians have a website (I believe that there is also one in Denmark) where you can search for a person (it is somewhat like the white pages), but not only can you get the persons name you’re also given their date of birth, their annual income, and their social class. There was even a link that rated the top ten richest people in each county. This seemed absolutely absurd to me, to be able to so easily look up information that is so personal to us. But then it made sense, and I just concluded (and accepted) that where she comes from everyone is more open, so looking through peoples things or knowing personal information about people is normal. I took a deep breath and tried to absorb the differences, and look at them as interesting rather than abnormal. Then, after a few minutes, I realized that this is possibly the best “find a rich husband” website ever. Unfortunately she didn’t understand my joke... it’s sometimes difficult to explain American humor to international students.

Although I told myself that I wanted to stay away from the Americans, it seems that we have been finding each other quite easily. Since I didn’t come with anyone from Drexel, it was a little bit heartwarming to finally hear someone speak English as well as I do. Don’t get me wrong, I love everyone’s accent, but it can definitely get difficult trying to understand what everyone is saying. The communication has been difficult with certain people, and I try very hard to do by best with understanding them, but I find myself spending more time with the people I have less trouble communicating with.
For example, even when two international students are having a conversation that I am not included in, they will turn to me to ask me to help with certain words or sentences. I don’t mind helping, but it gets difficult always being the one that they turn to for help. Taking a break and chatting with some of the Americans helps me to feel more at home, and it gives me a break from making sure I am talking slowly and clearly. Considering I have a tendency to talk fast, talking slowly and clearly has been one of my biggest challenges here so far.
Another big challenge has been adjusting to the limited use of electricity/other resources. More specifically, the washing machines here are SO tiny. I walked into the laundry facility with my friend from Norway, and I opened the door and gasped. She thought I saw a spider. I just couldn’t understand how I was supposed to fit more than five pieces of clothing into the washing machine. Magically I got a decent amount of clothes in there, and the dryers were huge. Apparently Norwegian (and Danish) people don’t use dryers very often, and I had to explain to my friend from Norway that it was okay to put clothes into the dryer (she had only ever used a dryer for sheets and towels).
In an effort to adapt to their lifestyle, I have resorted to using candles instead of lights whenever possible. This doesn’t work well with the “Building Fire Safety” class that I’m taking as we constantly watch videos about buildings catching on fire. But, I am still trying.
That’s another thing that’s different from classes in the US. I have my Building Fire Safety class with two friends, one from America and one from Australia. We watched a video during the first lecture about a building that burnt down in Rhode Island. The video was pretty graphic, and my friend from America and I discuss how videos like that would never be shown in a classroom at home. This week we saw a video of a skyscraper where it actually showed people jumping from the top floors. It really made me think about the kind of filters our society has on bringing the media into the classroom, and how it is our own decision to watch such graphic videos. It seems like Europe is much more open with such things, and I haven’t decided what system I think is better. Regardless, it’s interesting to compare the two, and see how these types of things affect us as a society. It made me feel a little overdramatic as I sat there with my hand over my eyes while everyone else seemed fine.

I have recently been spending more time with people that live in my dorm building. We had a “kitchen meeting” on Thursday, and it definitely helped to see everyone’s face and get to know where they are all from. There are seventeen people that live on my floor, and we all share a kitchen. Three of the seventeen people are new, including me. Everyone else has lived here for at least a year. It was very intimidating coming into the building as one of the new people, but I have been getting to know each person slowly but surely, and although they are not all outgoing they definitely are open to talking once I start a conversation. One thing I find funny is that they are not used to someone asking “how are you?” and I do that a lot. So, for example, I will walk into the kitchen to make a sandwich and say “hello, how are you?” to one of the guys, and he seems a little surprised that I am asking how he is doing. They have gotten used to me asking that, though, and now whenever I walk in they just go “hi! I am fine today, how are you?” before I even say anything, it is very cute. Sharing the kitchen with so many people can be a little overwhelming especially if I invite friends over, but I really enjoy having people there to chat with while I’m preparing my food.
On Saturday I prepared food for everyone in the kitchen with two other people. We have this system where we sign up for a group meal, and the people who cook will go buy the ingredients but do not have to pay. Everyone else who eats the dinner splits the cost of the food. So, I cooked bruschetta (one of the only things I actually know how to “cook”) while a few other girls made curry chicken and chocolate cake (it was a very eclectic dinner).
As for my actual living situation, I have my own bedroom and bathroom (which is great compared to some of the other dorm buildings). There is another place where they keep international students (called “campus village”) and it is basically a cargo container converted into a bedroom with communal bathrooms. They literally call each of the buildings “containers” and the bathrooms are shared between 8 people, so I am very happy to live in the place that I do.

So I survived my first week of classes! I am enrolled in four classes, and I only have final exams in two of them. One is for Statistics, and it is open computer. The other final is open notes. And the remaining two classes require a final report which will consist of assignments that we work on weekly in class. The majority of work outside of class is reading the textbook and reviewing the material. I am extremely fond of this system, and have even been doing some investigating into coming here for my Masters! My professors all speak English well, so the lectures are not difficult to keep up with. The only issue I ran into was asking the professor for help during the exercise session. Communication was a little rough, but after I tried explaining myself a few different ways the professor understood what I was saying. He was eager to help and understand my question, and gave me a very thorough explanation.
I have been keeping in contact with a lot of the friends I made during orientation week. We have been organizing trips together into Copenhagen, and some of us have cooked dinner together or met to go out together for a party. Orientation week was definitely extremely beneficial in helping with setting up a good group of friends, especially since we are all prettymuch in the same boat. Each of us have our differences, but we are all coping with adjusting to a new environment with new people and we all need to set up a new system of living.
I think it may be insightful for me to explain where some of my friends from orientation week come from and the differences I have noticed between their personalities and mine. One girl is from Norway, and she follows the typical Danish bland personality. There is also a boy from Italy who is extremely outgoing, he is also eager to make plans with people which helps to keep us busy. There is a girl from Switzerland who is extremely sweet, she is a little shy but very open to going out and meeting new people (which is not the same for the Norwegian girl). Then the last extreme personality difference I have noticed is a girl from Paris who is very nice but definitely has that Parisian attitude. It is amazing to see each of us getting along so well, and I hope that we remain friends throughout the semester.

So the last day of orientation was spent learning about the Danish culture. We had a few lectures regarding their culture in general, the language, and the learning environment at DTU. Some things that stuck out to me included the personality types of Danish people, their respect for rules, and their freedom of speech. The person who was giving the presentation on Danish culture showed a cartoon with three comparisons: the first was of a Danish persons face when happy compared to the rest of Europe. The Dane had a straight face, while the other Europeans were smiling. The same comparison was made about being sad, and the Danes face was straight while the other Europeans were frowning. The final picture showed what they looked like while drunk, and both were smiling. In summary Danish people are known to be very bland and not show emotions, while other Europeans will show their emotions easily. This is difficult to get used to as an American, since we are usually comfortable starting conversations with complete strangers. That is very abnormal here, as the Danish people usually keep to themselves and are not used to meeting people they haven’t been formally introduced to.
As for the Danish language: not my cup of tea. I came into the abroad experience extremely eager to learn Danish, but that has quickly changed. I have picked up on a lot of the necessary words, such as general introduction phrases and types of foods. Other than that, I don’t think I will have much success with learning the language. I live in a dorm with a large amount of Danish students, so they have been very helpful when I need to go food shopping or read something that is in Danish. The extra vowels and pronunciations are a little to intimidating for me…
When we were told about the learning environment I was very surprised. The entire structure of classes is completely different from Drexel. There are no weekly assignments that need to be submitted, it is more of a semester long project or final examination. The classes are five hours long, and consist of a lecture period followed by an activity period. The activity period is usually group work that the teach gives at the end of the lecture based on what has just been taught. I would imagine that this style of teaching is more successful as we are forced to practice what we have just learned rather than forgetting the material and going back through everything. Also, we were told that it is quite common to start “bickering” with the teacher about the topics. Talking out in class is encouraged, and discussions between peers are allowed. It seems to me like this type of learning environment is beneficial, as it forces self motivation to keep up with the material and group exercises, and encourages participation while the lecture is in progress. I’m excited to see how my classes go, but not very excited to have to start doing work! I have not yet accepted that this is “study abroad” and not “vacation abroad.”
At the end of the day we participated in a photo competition, where we were asked to take specific pictures regarding the Danish culture. Attached is my favorite photo of the ones we submitted. There were a decent amount of older people dressed up in what I assumed was the old school typical Danish attire the day we spent touring Copenhagen. So two of my friends and I asked a few of the men to take a picture with us, and they did not mind at all. Unfortunately we didn’t win the photo competition, but we definitely had a fun time taking the pictures!

The first day of orientation went well. I met a group of really great and very interesting people. We spent the day doing activities on campus and getting to know each other, which definitely helped relieve some of the stress from traveling. Some of the activities included a scavenger hunt, which helped familiarize us with the campus and figure out where all the academic buildings are located. I actually left after the scavenger hunt to go back to my room to nap for a bit, since I hadn’t really taken a break since I arrived. I came back just in time for dinner, which was pretty “normal.” They served us grilled check cutlets with a side of potatoes in a cream sauce. Since I had been warned that Danish people ate a lot of fish and I don’t eat fish, I was a little worried that I would have trouble with the food that they served. In the evening we went to a bar on campus and got a few beers. It's interesting to be in an environment where they drink so much beer, they even served it with lunch!

So tonight (the second day of orientation) we went out in Copenhagen, after a day of tours and site seeing. We saw the Queens house, and went on a boat ride around the harbor. We also got gelato, one of my favorite foods! At night we went to a club that had a free open bar until 10pm. It was interesting to see people of all different cultures in that type of environment. For example, a lot of the northern Europeans were not really the “party animals” whereas the southern Europeans seemed to be the life of the party. It also gave us a chance to branch out and meet other international students that weren't in our group during the day. The tour guide made sure that we all knew how to get back to the bus station, and which bus to take to get home, so that when she left we were capable of getting home on our own. I was very nervous being out in Copenhagen (which is about 45 minutes by bus from the DTU campus) without our tour guide, but I stuck with a few friends to make sure that we all got home safely. I think that it is just a natural habit to be so concerned with walking around alone late at night, especially coming from Philadelphia/New York, but I was told from multiple people that it’s actually normal for girls to walk around late at night on their own. I don’t think I will ever get used to that, and I don’t think it’s a habit I should adopt since I will be returning to Philly in four months. But, it is still very reassuring to know that the crime rate is significantly lower than what I’m used to.

Overall my experience so far has been extremely interesting. There are so many beautiful things to see and so many different people to meet. There have been moments when the cultural differences can be surprising, but I think I am still in the overly happy phase. I am just so excited to see different places and meet new people that no matter what the differences are, I welcome them with open arms.

The drive to the airport was exhausting, to say the least. Thanks to New York City traffic it was almost a two and a half-hour drive. Upon arrival I eagerly rushed through check in, dragging my mom, her boyfriend, and his daughter with me. Once my bags were checked and ready to go we grabbed lunch and then waited to go through security. Saying goodbye was rough, but the goodbyes had begun about a week prior, so at this point I was a pro.

I walked up to the gate where my plane was listed to depart from and took a deep breath as the situation started to sink in. This was it, all the planning and preparations had finally come together. I was boarding the plane to Copenhagen, Denmark to begin a semester at Denmark Technical University. This just seemed so surreal. Oh and I use the term "preparations" loosely... The only word I knew in Danish was "tak" which means thank you (besides all of the obviously appropriate phrases my older brother taught me). I guess you can see how the stress began to develop.

The plane ride wasn’t too bad. It turns out that I wound up getting the row to myself, so I had some space to stretch. I was kind of hoping to get seated next to a Dane so that I would be able to get some insight into the country from a local before arriving. Fortunately I was able to sleep well on the flight, and when we landed I had enough energy to grab my bags and head to campus. Arriving to DTU was somewhat of a joke. I took a taxi to campus... Bad idea. It was roughly $175 for a 20 minute drive, when there was a train available. I must say though that not having to have to carry my luggage was priceless.

I finally found the accommodations office after a bit of wandering (the attached picture is right outside the office in the main waiting area) and checked in with the receptionist. The woman in the office was very helpful. She provided me with a map of campus, and made sure I understood exactly how to get to my dorm building. If I had arrived a day earlier there would have been people waiting at the office to carry my bags for me, but since I came the first day of orientation and not before, I was stuck lugging them to my room. The woman at the desk actually told me to go stand outside the main building and look helpless, then wait for a nice Danish boy to carry my things for me, so needless to say this was my first impression of Danish society.